I'm an artist and writer with a coffee addiction. But who isn't?

All four of us together in 2001

This picture is of me with my twin sister and younger brother and sister in November of 2001. Obviously, we’ve all grown up quite a bit since then, but this is my favorite one of us. Of all six of my mom’s kids, the four of us are closest in age and grew up together. From left to right: Mandy, Joel, me, and Lea.

Unfortunately, even though we live within four to five hours of each other, we all have crazy schedules and can’t get together very often. Planning Christmas get-togethers is just nuts, so last December my sister had the genius idea of creating a family blog in order to help us keep track of Christmas lists and holiday plans. (She is the master coordinator who keeps us all connected.) Even though Christmas has passed, we still keep up the blog with updates and information about family stuff.  I love it because it allows me to hear what’s going on with them on a regular basis, and it has helped to stay more in tune with each other’s lives.